India Women will miss their key middle-order batter Jemimah Rodrigues for the rest of the ongoing ODI series against Australia Women after she was diagnosed with a viral fever. The Women’s Selection Committee has called up young batter Tejal Hasabnis as her replacement for the remaining matches.
Hasabnis has made a strong start in her short international career, with an average of 46.66 from six ODIs. She now gets a golden opportunity to showcase her skills in a big series just days before the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup begins on September 30. India’s medical team will keep checking on Jemimah’s recovery as she is expected to play an important role in the World Cup campaign starting later this month.
In the first match of the series, Jemimah scored just 18 runs from 26 balls. India made a total of 281 runs for the loss of 7 wickets. Opener Smriti Mandhana scored a steady fifty, while Pratika Rawal (64) and Harleen Deol (54) added useful runs. Meanwhile, Australia easily chased the target with strong batting from Phoebe Litchfield (88) and Beth Mooney (unbeaten on 77).
The second ODI is being played today at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, New Chandigarh. Australia won the toss and opted to bowl first, with India looking to level the three-match series. However, Hasabnis failed to get a place in the playing XI.
Updated squad for ODI:
Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, Richa Ghosh (WK), Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare, Radha Yadav, Sree Charani, Sneh Rana, Uma Chetry (WK), Tejal Hasabnis
Standby players: Prema Rawat, Priya Mishra
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